Let me start off by saying I’m a total jersey nerd. I have to believe that one of the big reasons I got into hockey as a little two year old lad was the awesome, bright, crazy unis of the 1990’s. That love has followed me into adulthood, and I have built up a mighty fine collection of some beautiful jerseys over the years (and some pretty ugly ones too).

One of my biggest gripes with the current state of the game today is how many teams have absolutely shocking uniform designs and decisions. I would assume these franchises are paying for top-quality business consultation and design people, yet we continue to see insane decisions like the Flames and Capitals just made recently when Adidas took over, to ditch the beautiful retro looks they had, and go with plain, pipe-y, pyjama-looking trash, while 99.9% our jaws dropped at how such a decision could be made. Is there some ugly jersey conspiracy that we’re all totally oblivious to?

But alas, we don’t have any say in which jerseys our teams will don. That won’t stop us from dreaming! So I decided to do a series on the best jerseys that each franchise has worn. You may agree with some, you may think I’m crazy. Either way, let me know by tweeting me at @BLTJay!

Yesterday I did the Florida Panthers, which means today is the Los Angeles Kings!

Purple Third Jersey (2010-2017)

I have not been looking forward to this one because it is so damn hard. I had to go back and forth on two of my all time favourite jerseys, and in the end kind of surprised myself by going with the purple look, but I think it has to be.

The classic black look is so great, but I wonder how groundbreaking it is from a design perspective. And after all, I am choosing the best Kings jersey of all time, so that has to be taken into account.

Look at the logos for example. The 90’s logo is really not good at all when you think about it. The shape is all over the place, there are two totally different fonts… And the lines behind the letters, like the word is moving fast??? Bleh.

And as for colours, the black and white looks cool, but it is probably more of a nostalgic thing. Gretzky coming in, the Kings going to the Stanley Cup Finals; a big time in hockey history, especially for growth into the southern US. However, in reality, black and white is nothing special. If you can pull off purple and gold? Fuck yeah, you gotta do it! And do it the Kings did.

When they brought this look back in 2010 as a third jersey, I was ecstatic. Uniqueness is a beautiful thing for me, and it doesn’t get much more unique than this look in hockey. A perfect mix of being different, looking classy, and throwing it back to the old school days of a franchise. Truly one of the best third jerseys in league history.

That said, I do think it’s still best suited as a third jersey. The Kings have done well bringing back the black and silver identity (winning their only two Stanley Cups), and having the gold inverse of this guy for the home jersey full time doesn’t sit well with me. Nashville is more than enough for one league on that front.

So hopefully they bring it back in the near future! I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t… But I’ll sit here, fingers crossed, until then.

What’s your favourite Kings look ever? Classic purple? Classic yellow? Gretzky black? One of the atrocious Stadium series looks? Or maybe you’re a total freak and you like the Burger King jersey! Let me know in the comments, or tweet me at @BLTJay!